Families of Philippine victims in Duterte’s anti-drugs war ‘shine light on truth’

There was a buzz at the Silingan Candlemakers, a workshop housed at a church in Metro Manila. 

Workers were agog as they talked about recent allegations made by police officers during a congressional hearing that former President Rodrigo Duterte had offered them a reward for every drug suspect they killed during his six-year term (2016-22).

Each and everyone in the workshop had a stake in the outcome of the hearing, because each and everyone was related to someone killed in Duterte’s infamous drug war. More than 8,000 suspected pushers and addicts were slain in the counter-narcotics crackdown, according to police records. 

Silingan Candlemakers was established precisely so relatives of the dead could find a safe space to talk to one another as they heal themselves and pursue productive lives, said Catholic Brother Jun Santiago III, who set up the project in February.

“Basically, all of those in Silingan are those left behind in Duterte’s drug war,” Santiago said during a visit by BenarNews to the San Lorenzo Ruiz and Companion Martyrs Parish Church, located in Navotas city.

“That really was why we put up Silingan candlemakers.”

Meanwhile, in stunning testimony before a Senate hearing, the former president on Monday unapologetically took responsibility for the killings that occurred under his watch.  

“I did what I had to do. And whether you believe it or not, I did it for my country,” Duterte told the Senate hearing. 

“The war on illegal drugs is not about killing people, it is about protecting the innocent and the defenseless.”

Santiago built the workshop for these survivors at the church named after the first Filipino saint, San Lorenzo Ruiz.

Here, the relatives of drug-war victims are trained to mold candles they sell for a modest profit. As they work, they share their stories and the progress of their individual cases in court.

For Jonalyn Tenso, 37, Silingan Candlemakers is a refuge because all her co-workers can relate to what her family had endured. 

Her partner, Ryan Cuerteros, was a devout Christian who was a construction worker for his pastor, she said, as she molded candles and recalled the events of the day he was killed.

The family had just finished their meager Christmas Eve dinner, when an armed police officer wearing a face mask barged into their shanty in Navotas district in Manila, looking for a drug suspect, she alleged. 

Tenso said that as she held onto Cuerteros so they wouldn’t take him away, they were overpowered and the man allegedly shot Cuerteros twice.

Their daughters, aged five and 11 at the time, were roused by the gunfire. The younger one held Cuerteros as he bled to death.

“We were not even allowed a proper Christmas,” Tenso told BenarNews.

“The masked man barged into our home and was trying to take him away. We clung to him, so he was taken. He was shot instead.”

Ironically, her partner was a fervent supporter of Duterte and believed in his promises of ridding the Philippines of crime.

Later, Tenso said, she found out it may have been a case of mistaken identity. The person who was being targeted was a known drug pusher in the area with the same name. 

Tenso said the bond she shares with her co-workers at Silingan Candlemakers are forged in the blood of their loved ones.

She was still angry with what had befallen them. But simply knowing that others had also lost loved ones and were speaking out about it gave her courage.

“This workshop is a big help to us. We are poor but are hard-working people. We just wanted to live quietly,” she said

“It is very painful.”

Diana Gaton, 53, lost her partner, Daniel Pedrache, in an eerily similar attack. 

But unlike Cuarteros, Pedrache was a known meth user in their neighborhood in Manila’s tough Tondo district, where he earned some money pedaling the family’s rickshaw at night. 

“We admit that he was a user. But he never sold drugs,” Gaton told BenarNews. “Was that enough to execute him?”

Making candles earns them about 1,000 pesos (less than U.S. $20) for a crate, and Gaton says they can make several crates a day depending on the demand.

She showed BenarNews a commemorative blue candle in a jar bearing the image of her slain partner.

Inscribed on it were the words “Papa Daniel.”

“These candles at least help shine the light on the truth,” Gaton said.